What is a worldview, anyway?

Goins argues that all successful writers, regardless of niche or genre, ultimately express a worldview in their writing. He gave an example of Ernest Hemingway. According to Goins, Hemingway’s worldview was that everybody had the chance to be courageous or show grace under fire. Setting his stories in war zones and other high-conflict situations gave Hemingway the chance to demonstrate this worldview in his characters.

The nice thing about a worldview is that it offers more flexibility than a topic or a niche. Let’s apply this to a real blog that I read regularly. James Altucher has been blogging and publishing books for the last several years under the theme, “Choose yourself.” His background is mostly in technology and finance, but he’s been able to apply the principles he’s learned in the business world, especially those relating to the entrepreneurial spirit, to a variety of areas. One way to state his worldview might be, “Every person can use entrepreneurial principles to improve all aspects of their lives.”

OK, so what’s my worldview?

The worldview expressed in the previous paragraph was structured that way for a reason. Goins suggests framing your worldview in the form: “Every {blank} can/should {blank}.” “Every person should lift weights.” “Every business owner can carve out time to meditate.” You get the idea.

I have pretty eclectic interests, so I thought it might be difficult to come up with a worldview. But it was surprisingly easy to find a common theme underlying all my interests. I often find myself saying some version of the idea, “You don’t have to take the life that is handed to you.” Far too often we assume our options are more limited than they actually are. So how can I express this using Goins’s formula?

“Every person should make the effort to craft a life that works for them.”

It’s a work in progress, but I’m not married to it. I can change it anytime I want. But for now it’s a good reflection of where I am. I also like that it doesn’t put me out there as some kind of expert. But by talking about what has and hasn’t worked for me, hopefully others can get an idea of what might or might not work for them.

This worldview also gives me the freedom to discuss a variety of topics, as long as I can tie them in. And if the tie-in becomes a problem down the road, maybe then I’ll need to re-examine my worldview. Another important point Goins made is, “It’s better to be clear about the wrong thing than not to be clear at all.” It’s much easier to change direction if you don’t like where you’re headed than it is to overcome the inertia to get moving in the first place.

Sidebar: isn’t that quote beautiful? I think I’m going to make a wallpaper out of it or something.

So what do you think? If you have a worldview you’d like to share, you can do so in the comments or hit me up on Twitter at @daniellegaither.